Andreas Gursky
The family fled to the West, where they initially ran a photo studio in Essen. Andreas Gursky studied visual communication at the university there from 1978 to 1981. He then completed academic training at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, which he completed in 1987. During this time he was the master student of the photo artist Bernd Becher for two years. Gursky initially devoted himself to small format photography. From the late 1980s onwards he made his photographs in large format and in the early 1990s he used electronic technology to edit his works. Gursky's images are in the tradition of documentation. They present the viewer with various objects from architecture and nature as well as interior spaces.
In his large-format color photos, however, color is not the focus. Gursky, on the other hand, attaches great importance to photographic image precision. With the help of electronic image processing, his images become montages, which often form his artistic effects. The basic theme of his artistic work is the relationship between people and space, which runs like a common thread through his decorative and complex work to this day. Gursky's images document structures that are the result of human intervention, as well as people in spaces and surroundings. The switch to large-format photography also brings with it a change of subject: his works no longer show comfortable, homely motifs from leisure and everyday life or powerful relationships between nature, technology and people, but rather current mass phenomena.
In his more recent works, Andreas Gursky emphatically abstracts photographed objects by emphasizing the relationships between color and surface. The technique of photographic distancing is intended to give the viewer the impression of intentional objectivity. With this attitude, the photo artist photographs, among other things, industrial facilities, stock exchanges and contemporary landscapes. The presence of human society is always latent in such photographs, but the artist never analyzes or evaluates the motifs depicted in them. His other motifs also include boxing matches, supermarkets, racing grounds and concerts. To ensure the success of his pictures, he often goes to spectacular lengths by using helicopters or climbing construction cranes.
The renowned photographer now achieves seven-figure sales with his photos, which are also of interest to financial investors, making him one of the most expensive representatives of his profession. The supermarket photo "99 cent, II" was auctioned off at Phillips de Pury in New York in 2006 for around 2.4 million dollars. Andreas Gursky received the following awards, among others: the Renata Prize in 1991 and the Photography Prize in 1998 from Citibank Private Bank, in 2003 with the Wilhelm Loth Prize from Darmstadt, in 2008 with the Kaiserring of the city of Goslar and in 2009 with the "Berliner Bär" cultural prize. Gursky lives and works in Düsseldorf.
In his large-format color photos, however, color is not the focus. Gursky, on the other hand, attaches great importance to photographic image precision. With the help of electronic image processing, his images become montages, which often form his artistic effects. The basic theme of his artistic work is the relationship between people and space, which runs like a common thread through his decorative and complex work to this day. Gursky's images document structures that are the result of human intervention, as well as people in spaces and surroundings. The switch to large-format photography also brings with it a change of subject: his works no longer show comfortable, homely motifs from leisure and everyday life or powerful relationships between nature, technology and people, but rather current mass phenomena.
In his more recent works, Andreas Gursky emphatically abstracts photographed objects by emphasizing the relationships between color and surface. The technique of photographic distancing is intended to give the viewer the impression of intentional objectivity. With this attitude, the photo artist photographs, among other things, industrial facilities, stock exchanges and contemporary landscapes. The presence of human society is always latent in such photographs, but the artist never analyzes or evaluates the motifs depicted in them. His other motifs also include boxing matches, supermarkets, racing grounds and concerts. To ensure the success of his pictures, he often goes to spectacular lengths by using helicopters or climbing construction cranes.
The renowned photographer now achieves seven-figure sales with his photos, which are also of interest to financial investors, making him one of the most expensive representatives of his profession. The supermarket photo "99 cent, II" was auctioned off at Phillips de Pury in New York in 2006 for around 2.4 million dollars. Andreas Gursky received the following awards, among others: the Renata Prize in 1991 and the Photography Prize in 1998 from Citibank Private Bank, in 2003 with the Wilhelm Loth Prize from Darmstadt, in 2008 with the Kaiserring of the city of Goslar and in 2009 with the "Berliner Bär" cultural prize. Gursky lives and works in Düsseldorf.
